The Congress party refused to read any political overtures in the meeting between Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray in Mumbai.

The congress said the meeting held was to request for trouble free IPL 3.

Party spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed said, “We don't see any political overtures into the meeting. According to media reports, his visit was not as a minister or as NCP chief but as the head of a cricketing body.”

Ahmed said that Pawar had met Shiv Sena supremo to ensure a hassle-free IPL keeping in mind Sena's decision to protest the presence of Australian players in the IPL.

When a question was asked whether NCP chief Pawar's meeting with Thackeray was a snub to the Congress, another party spokesperson Abhishekh Manu Singhvi said, "I don't agree on the use of the word snub. If Pawar has met Thackeray to prevent the politics of disruption in cricketing matters, I don't see any reason for people to speculate. If he has met him for any other reason, it is for Pawar to explain.”

"I am sure that he knows how to ensure that there will be no speculation... there will be misunderstanding or misinterpretation of his visit but for that you have to ask him," he added.